Disaster Recovery Plans are a Must for Businesses of All Sizes

Disaster recovery planning means more for a business than hypothetical talk and paperwork. Disasters are a part of life on earth, and our preparedness for them will determine how quickly we are able to respond and recover. Businesses should consider disaster recovery plans a necessity in order to ensure that the services they promise will not be interrupted.

How would natural and man-made disasters such as tornados, cyber attacks, floods, hurricanes, terrorist invasions, earthquake or fire affect the businesses and services you rely on?

While it is recommended for businesses of every size to update and test their recovery plans yearly or whenever a major change is made, a recent article on EWeek.com has reported that 17 percent of businesses never test their disaster plans, and of those who do, 81 percent of businesses find problems and 11 percent report major problems or complete failure.

Disaster recovery planning is especially crucial for energy, power and utility companies. These sectors could leave thousands without necessities such as power or clean water in the event of disaster unpreparedness. The University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center completed a survey of five major business sectors and found that electricity is the most critical lifeline service for business operations. Short-term power outages alone cost businesses anywhere from $3 billion to $ 5 billion each year. The fiscal cost is measurable, but the cost for the people left without power or necessities such as clean water cannot be quantified.

Have a plan?

Clearly, the need for a realistic disaster recovery plan is currently being understated by many companies. Perhaps it is time for companies to re-define their disaster recovery options. SPB Global is an untapped resource that could provide a missing puzzle piece for large-scale disaster recovery in sectors such as energy or utility. As a specialty company, SPB Global has the potential to provide invaluable third party support during a disaster recovery scenario. With the ability to draw from resources all over the world, SPB Global’s database would be largely unaffected by the location of any disastrous occurrences. One of the major roadblocks for many company’s disaster recovery is their need for out-of-date or “legacy” equipment in order to return older utilities to full function. SPB Global’s goal is to be a resource for customers who require even the most obscure electronic parts, and the company takes pride in quickly locating and providing such equipment.

There’s a lot to consider when companies think about disaster recovery, but the need to believe disasters possible and concretely prepare for them cannot be disputed. The goal is the same no matter what disaster is being dealt with: a quick return to normalcy with as few glitches as possible. A disaster recovery plan that considers every disastrous scenario and utilizes every resource possible holds the potential to save lives.